Transference-Focused Psychotherapy Program

What is TFP?

Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) is a manualized, evidence-based treatment for severe personality disorders, in particular borderline and narcissistic personality disorders. To address the clinical needs of this patient population, TFP combines a psychodynamic approach with structure and limit-setting. The goals of the treatment are ambitious - personality change, as reflected in patients’ functioning and satisfaction in their interpersonal and work lives, as well as symptom change.

TFP builds on a psychodynamic object relations model of psychological functioning. The treatment focuses on internalized images of self and other that organize the patient’s interpersonal experience and sense of self. The exaggerated, distorted, and unrealistic internal images of self and other that characterize severe personality disorders are associated with problems in mood regulation, self-esteem, and interpersonal relationships. The treatment aims to modify these internalized relationship patterns by exploring them as they are activated in the therapeutic relationship and in the patient’s interpersonal life. The ultimate aim is to help the patient develop more stable, realistic, and better-integrated experiences of self and other, leading to improved interpersonal functioning and adaptation to life.

The Course

This is a two-year training. The course begins with a review of the principles and techniques of TFP. It then moves on to case material. Instructors provide the initial case material, including videos of sessions that illustrate management of common clinical situations. After this introductory phase, the course shifts to focus on discussion and supervision of participants’ cases. After completing the two-year course, participants should have acquired the fund of knowledge and clinical skills to be a competent TFP therapist. Participants will receive a certificate from the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research.

instructors

Eve Caligor, M.D.
Frank Yeomans, M.D., Ph.D.
Barry Stern, Ph.D.

Core Texts

Yeomans F, Clarkin JF, Kernberg OF: Transference-Focused Psychotherapy for Borderline Personality Disorder: A Clinical Guide. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Publishing, 2015.

Caligor E, Kernberg OF, Clarkin JF, Yeomans FE: Psychodynamic Therapy for Personality Pathology: Treating Self and Interpersonal Functioning.  Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Press, 2018.

TRAINING

The educational program consists of 34 weekly seminars, running September through June of each academic year.  Courses are co-sponsored by the Columbia Psychoanalytic Center and TFP New York.

For 2023-24, we are offering three different training opportunities:

1. First year videoconference seminar held on Mondays from 5:00-6:30 p.m. EST
   Drs. Caligor and Stern
2. Second year videoconference seminar held on Tuesdays from 2:15-3:45 p.m. EST
   Drs. Caligor and Yeomans
3. Second year videoconference seminar held on Tuesdays from 4:00-5:30 p.m. EST
   Drs. Caligor and Stern

Application

The training will be open to licensed Psychiatrists, PhDs, PsyDs, and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW).

Our online application for the 2023-24 academic year is now open at Transference-Focused Psychotherapy Program Application Form. The form will require you to upload a digital photo, your CV, your current license, and proof of liability insurance, so please make sure that you have these documents available before you begin.

You will also want to make sure that you request letters from two different recommenders, who you name in the application form, be sent directly to psychoanalysis@cumc.columbia.edu. If you are currently in training or completed training within the past five years, we also request a letter from your training director.

Please pay your nonrefundable $50 application fee by using this secure payment form.

The deadline for submitting application materials is May 15th. We will make final decisions about acceptance by the end of May 2023. 

Tuition

Tuition is $3750 for all seminars offered in 2022-2023.

Please review the Psychotherapy Division's Refund and Cancellation Policy.

ACCME Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of 50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. 
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.
-Updated July 2021-